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Hi all!

Having a webhotel and a domain for a long time now, I've never been able to open my site sibce I'm completely useless when it comes to these kind of things… but finding ocPortal sort of changed that! While I'm still trying to get a grip of everything, I believe that by time I will understand more and more of this, and will enjoy it in the same manor! Overall ocPortal at least gives me a chance to open up a website for my stuff, (game graphics), and this will hopefully put an end to all requests sent to me through e-mails…

Anyways, there are some things I'm not sure how to proceed with. For instance, when visititors/members reaches my site, (www.simuscape.com), I want them first to reach a blank page, consisting of nothing else but a logo and the actual login box, possibly a news box as well - all of it centered on this blank page. After logging in I want them to reach the "http://www.simuscape.com/site/index.php?page=start" url, and nothing else. How do I perform this?

I've also noticed that if clicking the logo one is sent to "http://www.simuscape.com/site/index.php?page=" url, (notice the "start" at the end missing from the above suggestion). Is this something I set while installing ocPortal to my webhotel account? I hope this question make sense!

As for the forum part, I have a freeforum account at the moment, but have included ocPortals forum feature when installing ocPortal. Is it possible to transfer posts and members from a FreeForum.org forum to my new ocPortal forum? If so, how does one do this?

On your main site page (Site Zone), click the "Edit in Zone Editor" link on either side of your site below the blocks. This allows you to remove both side blocks. Then Save.

In the middle section, click "Edit this page". Remove all blocks except the main greeting one. If you want the news, you can keep that one there. To get any blocks added in that section, just click the add block button.

To have just your logo and some other theme changes, check out Allen's theme tutorial video and Islander's tutorial threads in the theme forum.

This is where you can set up another Zone and after they log in, maybe a note to "Enter" the site. This could lead them to another Zone which has your "blocks" of information. I am sure there is a way to edit the coding so when they login, they are directed to the other Zone.

FORUMS

I don't think sites offering free services like forums allow database access. I think best thing, unless someone else comes forward with a solution, is to slowly move your freeforums members to your site by word of mouth.

SAC said

Hi all!

Hello and welcome, to the community.

SAC said

Anyways, there are some things I'm not sure how to proceed with. For instance, when visititors/members reaches my site, (www.simuscape.com), I want them first to reach a blank page, consisting of nothing else but a logo and the actual login box, possibly a news box as well - all of it centered on this blank page. After logging in I want them to reach the "http://www.simuscape.com/site/index.php?page=start" url, and nothing else. How do I perform this?

You can easily acheve this through the setup wizard located in: Admin Zone / Setup / Setup Wizard. You'll be asked, in one of the steps, is you want your Welcome and Site zones to be the same. This box is checked by default. If you uncheck it it will allow you do just what your wanting.

SAC said

I've also noticed that if clicking the logo one is sent to "http://www.simuscape.com/site/index.php?page=" url, (notice the "start" at the end missing from the above suggestion). Is this something I set while installing ocPortal to my webhotel account? I hope this question make sense!

Not sure on this one. Maybe some one else can answer this.

SAC said

As for the forum part, I have a freeforum account at the moment, but have included ocPortals forum feature when installing ocPortal. Is it possible to transfer posts and members from a FreeForum.org forum to my new ocPortal forum? If so, how does one do this?

No. ocportal allows to import several forum package, but the only way, I know of, that you can do this is either by create a page< "Older Forums" or something like this, and ue an iframe to bring it in to this page, or import the users and messages manually.

Well, slowly working my way forward, trying to create the website I want! The tutorials provided have been a good help indeed! Thanks for pointing me to those!

Another question; Is it possible to change the size of the "floating bar property", (top menu bar where links to "site", "forum", and so on are located), somehow? I learned how to actually edit those links, but have yet to discover how on earth the size of that bar can be reduced! Tried to upload a new shorter image, but that didn't work. An error occurred and so I assume something needs to be changed in the global.css settings. If so, what to change, and into what exactly?

Edit to add;

All of a sudden a message showed up near the top left corner saying;

This entry has not yet been validated by our staff and thus we cannot accept any responsibility for it. You followed a direct link to get to it.

It's Friday so I guess many of you are fully occupied with real life obligations, but I'm still hoping for some assistance regarding my previous questions! That is, whenever anyone has the time, allowing for me to continue!

SAC said

Hi again!

It's Friday so I guess many of you are fully occupied with real life obligations, but I'm still hoping for some assistance regarding my previous questions! That is, whenever anyone has the time, allowing for me to continue!

Thanks

And now it's Saturday…

Well, sorry to be a pain in the ***, but I'm of course eager to get my site up and running - at least with the basic stuff done! Still, it's one good thing coming when not getting any help, and that is that one is forced to use the entire brain resource to get a grip of stuff, and at points it works, and at times it doesn't… Oh well…

Ignore the previous aid for help! The error message shown in red in my previous post is sorted out! I noticed that an action I performed needed to be validated in the "Status" section, and so I did. The only thing I noticed immediately afterwards was a warning message saying something about not having a "Heading 1", but at least I got rid of the error message reported earlier - and learned how to solve it as an extra bonus!

Anyhow, progress is slowly going ahead and I'm closing up to some satisfaction about how I want my new site to look like. New header, (logo), is created along with a new background, giving my site a more proffessional look - or so I think! Haven't gotten to the more tedious part of looking into the actual structure of everything, incl. the forum area. But I'll get there soon!

There are some things I haven't been able to figure out though! I've attached an image with pointers, and hopefully someone will be able to help me out;

A:Top Menu Bar

I want this changed. I somehow assume that it's the same procedure as when I changed the header and the background images, namely to upload a new image and change settings inside the global.css. The question is, which settings more specifically. This very question also regards the forum area as I want a different image for the bars.

B: News Block

Well, as can tell there's a 1pxl wide line surrounding the news area, and that's good. However, I want to get rid of the "NEWS" sign completely and have the same 1pxl wide line also on the top of this area. And as far as the avatar and the "signature" to the right, can that be removed too? If so, where? I want to have "Posted by Admin" or something similar put next to the "Posted Date…" on top of the actual news item presented!

C: See B above…

D: Menues

I'm having a problem with black colored fonts on a dark background within some of the menues - incl. the forum area. How and where do I change that?

E: Background colors

I'm aware that I can change the theme into other colors using the Theme Wizard, but what if I want to change menues, incl both the title area and the listing area?

Lots of questions, I know… but again, I'm eager to get this new site up and running so I can finally close down my older sites and forums! And accept my apologies if I'm doing something I'm not allowed to here, such as posting several posts in a raw! However, none of them posted at the same time though!

E. Again, I urge you to read Islander's threads and watch Allen's video. Now you're getting deeper into editing the theme itself. Don't forget to set up a test site perhaps and do some trial and errors. And post the errors here and we'll 'try' to help you sort them out.

If not, please let us know how we can do better (please try and propose any bigger ideas in such a way that they are fundable and scalable).

If so, please let others know about ocPortal whenever you see the opportunity.

If my reply is too Vulcan or expressed too much in business-strategy terms, and not particularly personal, I apologise. As a company & project maintainer, time is very limited to me, so usually when I write a reply I try and make it generic advice to all readers. I'm also naturally a joined-up thinker, so I always express my thoughts in combined business and technical terms. I recognise not everyone likes that, don't let my Vulcan-thinking stop you enjoying ocPortal on fun personal projects.

If my response can inspire a community tutorial, that's a great way of giving back to the project as a user.

Thank you both! I highly appreciate the assistance! I'm aware there are lots of questions, but for someone like me completely without any kind of knowledge when it comes to codes and stuff, but still eager to create and develop the website, there'll be some issues now and then that requires further assistance. But bare with me and I'm sure I'll get it right eventually! I'm merely happy to have found a tool here at ocPortal, allowing me to have a professional site at all! I still can't understand why it's free!

Anyways, something that sort of struck me when watching these video tutorials recommended, was the size of header logos, background images and so on… Is there a preferred size to keep within when, let's say, creating a header logo in a paint program? I'm wondering because I have no idea how a chosen theme works in different screen resolutions. Are these sizes fixed somehow, and do other users see what I see if using a larger screen resolution than myself, or is everything stretched depending on a certain screen resolution?

I have created a logo for my site that is approx. 1900x200, (I actually copied the size when following the steps in one of the tutorials presented inside the "Themeing forum", and this is what raised the question itself. Have I understood this correct if saying that if I create a header logo that is, as an example 950x200, and a member visiting my site using a screen resolution that is 1900 something, the header logo appears twice side by side?

And by all means, please forgive me if asking competely stupid questions, but to somehow understand I need to ask them!

Edit to add;

Never mind the screen resolution thoughts above. I found a site online that actually provides real-time screen resolutions tests… If anyone is interested to check out how your site appears depending on your visitors screen resolutions, simply go to; http://viewlike.us/

It's sort of funny because being a complete newbie at this as I am, I find myself thinking about stuff I never even considered before! It was one of the great tutorials by Islander-aua about changing the header logo and background image that started it. I tried to figure out why on earth the header logo he did had to be as wide as 1800-1900 pixels, and of course I followed his advice and made a similar one! And then it hit me; I wonder what screen resolutions people are using and how would that affect the appearance of my new site?

Searching google revealed that lots of people are using 1024x768 with a small number hanging on to 800x600. But also larger screen resolutions are being used nowadays, and I assume 1280x800 being one of the most common ones! Some more googling on the topic led me to that particular site offering online tests, and that showed me what happens if anyone is using a screen resolution that exceeds, lets say 1900x… The header logo I made with the size 1900x repeated itself… …which is what I suspected!

SAC said

You're welcome!

It's sort of funny because being a complete newbie at this as I am, I find myself thinking about stuff I never even considered before! It was one of the great tutorials by Islander-aua about changing the header logo and background image that started it. I tried to figure out why on earth the header logo he did had to be as wide as 1800-1900 pixels, and of course I followed his advice and made a similar one! And then it hit me; I wonder what screen resolutions people are using and how would that affect the appearance of my new site?

Searching google revealed that lots of people are using 1024x768 with a small number hanging on to 800x600. But also larger screen resolutions are being used nowadays, and I assume 1280x800 being one of the most common ones! Some more googling on the topic led me to that particular site offering online tests, and that showed me what happens if anyone is using a screen resolution that exceeds, lets say 1900x… The header logo I made with the size 1900x repeated itself… …which is what I suspected!

Well, I live and learn…

Thanks for the link to a great testing tool, SAChttp://viewlike.us/Thanks also for commenting and trying the Tutorials!

You made a very interesting observation about the required length of the .global_top image and the repeating effect of having it too small. When I did the tuts, my monitor had a max res of 1440 x 900, and I figured that 1900 would probably meet the requirements of most users. I now have a 1920 x 800, and indeed, the top logo repeats slightly. With the increased availability of cheaper wider screen monitors, several users already go well beyond these numbers.

So, what should we do to make sure everyone, no matter how wide their monitor, can see our sites the way it was intended to be seen?

There is an ongoing debate, whether 'fixed-width' designs or 'fluid' designs are better. If you haven't read it yet, Chris has a few good thoughts about it in his Visual customisation - How to create a fixed-width layout tutorial HERE.

Okey, this must be telepathy because I was just going to post something about how to fix the width, when I noticed your post when doing a search!

And you're right! I'm currently working on a slightly different banner and background for my new site, and while doing this I started to think that I'd prefer a fixed width for my site, avoiding a banner that repeated itself - not to mention a background image not created to be repeated sideways… Well, I used that screen resolution link and added in a couple of different sites, simply to check how they're built up. It turns out that lots of them I checked have their widths (?) fixed, and it also showed how it'll look when using different screen resolutions. Personally I prefer to have it fixed because using a wider screen resolution at least keeps the site intact, although creating "open" spaces on both sides of the site window itself, but I assume it's a matter of preferences! Alternatively one can adjust the size of a banner and a background image when more and more people starts using wider screen resolutions.

So with that said I'm just not sure which width to chose. According to any information I can find online, about 36% uses a screen resolution of 1024x768, but approx. 57% are using an even higher one, and the number is getting higher and higher by the minute. It doesn't say anywhere though what resolutions these higher ones might be!

So this is tricky! On one hand I want my new site to look in a certain way, and I want it to look exactly the same regardless of whoever visits and their screen resolutions, but on another hand it's difficult to decide on the exact width to go for! Well, I'll have a look at that link you posted! And again, thanks for some really great tutorials!

Fixed-width websites favor the designer: allowing more complex designs to be created more easily, reliably, quickly, cheaper. They give the designer far more control.

Fluid-width websites favor accessibility and require the designer to consider all ranges of resolutions during development. It can be very tricky to make a website look good at 800x600 and 1920x1200. If done well, users from all devices will have a good browsing experience.

In a lot of our client designs we will do fixed-width because we know exactly how much content they want to showcase and it generally looks better when we can lock-down the width and fill it appropriately.

On the other hand, the ocPortal default theme is fluid-width because it needs to be able to adapt for a bigger variety of installations.

And screens keep getting wider - the newer 30" screens have a resolution of 2560x1600. To get a sense of how large this is, watch this YouTube review at 1:12 when the Google window is maximized!

A good solution for making a header image continue for an unlimited width, you can use an image editing program to 'blend' the left and right edges together, creating an image which will seamlessly wrap horizontally forever (like this). There are tutorials for making an image "tile seamlessly", so look for that

Well, this didn't make things any easier, 'cause now I don't know what strategy to chose! Giving my site a fixed width would surely make things more convinient for me as I'm able to keep the design just the way I want, something which incl. the appearance of header logos, background images, and so on. However, doing it the other way, making things fluid, I'd allow for visitors to enjoy my site on behalf of their own preferences! The question is, what do people in general prefer?

As I don't have a wide screen myself, and have my screen resolution set to 1024x768, I'm sort of used to this resolution and what it offers when visiting websites. I have a friend whos screen malfunctioned and he decided to use his TV monitor instead, a wide screen, and while it was kind of perfect when playing games, I'm not sure I found it just as perfect when doing some good'ol surfing online. Have you ever seen that "famous" cartoon where Goofy, (Langben), Donald Duck, (Kalle Anka) and Mickey Mouse, (Musse Pigg), is on a vacation and they all sit in the caravan, while no one is driving the car, and eat corn line-by-line just as a typewriter? That gives an idea of how I experienced internet using a wide screen. Oh, and btw, the names within the colon's are the Swedish names for the same characters…

Well, this is tricky indeed! And while it may seem like an easy decision to make, I think there's much more to it than what it appears to be! At this point I'm sort of leaning more towards keeping the site fluid, but doing so requires me to scrap my currently designed header logo and background images - simply because they aren't made to fit a fluid theme! Hmm, all of a sudden the understanding of coding seems so easy compared to reaching a decision about what model to use in terms of "fluid" or "fixed"! My God!!!

Wouldn't it be neat if it was possible to use a fluid theme, but ensuring that the actual "stretching" of the the site was made in the middle? You know, making a header logo and a background image, splitting them in halfs and keep a 1 pxl wide part sort of loose in between those splitted areas, allowing for that 1 pxl wide extension to be stretched, thus allowing for a header logo and background images to have special patterns on the edges?

2560x1600 offers a lot of viewable real-estate and there's not much a designer can do to turn this large space into the perfect site, which must also look good at 1024x768. Imagine reading several paragraphs of text scrolling from left to right for 30 inches; one would develop neck pain and eye strain very quickly. I've noticed that most people having large monitors are using the extra space by having several windows opened at once, I included. Basically, the browser rarely uses more than 1024 pixels, sharing multiple windows, making it easier to read from it.

The idea behind having a wide monitor is to be able to manage more objects and not necessarily read text across it. Only games and videos will be using full screens, not necessarily browsers. I very much like Allen suggestion of seamlessly wrapping the banner horizontally for images that lend to it, ensuring that a wide site would look much better.

I don't think that we should overly worry too much about filling-up this large space; the future will come up with its own answer when monitors are all standard at 60 inches.

p.s. SAC, I remember very fondly seeing that cartoon where these favorite characters were eating their corn line-by-line.

Well, I actually spent the entire day yesterday trying to figure out which way to go! Taking everything into consideration I've decided to go with a fixed width - at least for the time being. It's not that a decision like this is written in stone. Things can change, and I think the best way to sort of "read" my community, is to pay attention to whatever feedback may be delivered during the time I have my site open and active.

I noticed I already have like 20 members registered, and the site isn't even opened yet. My "fans" keeps tracking my moves, and I always felt that e-mails I receive on an almost daily basis are pressuring me a lot. But now this pressure has extended to my site as well, so I really need to get it open anytime soon…

Edit to add;

Did some more search and stumbled onto the site VampireItalia, designed by "lgdesign" using ocPortal. Fantastic site to be honest! Anyways, entered his url into the "ViewLikeUs" page, and sort of noticed that his header logo seems to adjust from within the middle - just as I described in my previous post! This is sort of interesting, because whatever method he's using, it would work perfect for me as well - especially since I may have a chance to use the header logo and the background I'm working on, as they aren't designed to be duplicated when using larger screen resolutions, but may be enlarged from within the middle to keep the sidings intact!

Does anyone know where I can find a tutorial or something that can help me with this? I tried a search but to no avail!

There's a background-image in the center that tiles, then an image stuck on the left and an image stuck on the right. If you haven't already, install the Firefox addon "Firebug", then hit F12 and click "Inspect" (the rectangle + cursor icon). Hover over elements to see how the site is constructed.

SAC said

Did some more search and stumbled onto the site VampireItalia, designed by "lgdesign" using ocPortal. Fantastic site to be honest! :) Anyways, entered his url into the "ViewLikeUs" page, and sort of noticed that his header logo seems to adjust from within the middle - just as I described in my previous post! This is sort of interesting, because whatever method he's using, it would work perfect for me as well - especially since I may have a chance to use the header logo and the background I'm working on, as they aren't designed to be duplicated when using larger screen resolutions, but may be enlarged from within the middle to keep the sidings intact!

Does anyone know where I can find a tutorial or something that can help me with this? I tried a search but to no avail! :$

I am sure that if you ask lgdesign, he might reveal his secrets to you. ;)

If you did not do so yet, install the Firebug add-on on Firefox, and point to the top of VampireItalia page and you will discover that he uses 3 objects to create his superb Header

(I am not an expert, and might be wrong here, but this is my interpretation):

1 .global_top for the header background
2 .logo floating left
3 an image with an absolute position to the top right

I do not know of any specific tutorials, but if you follow Allen's Themes 101 - Replacing the Header and some of my tutorials where you can actually see the .global_top and .logo in action in the global.css file, you could definitely experiment and achieve a similar result, and I'm sure you will receive pointers when you share your experience in the Themeing forum.